Here's What You Need to Think About when Choosing Your Lighting Equipment
Unfortunately choosing your lighting equipment isn't a simple task. There's quite a lot to think about (other than cost), like color temperature, how much power they need, and what you're going to use to shape the light.
In this episode of Step + Repeat, Canadian gaffer Ira Cohen, while giving us a tour of one of the largest rental houses in Canada, William F. White International Inc., dispenses some knowledge about popular lighting tools that you can plug into your outlets at home. (He even throws in a few lighting tricks he's learned in throughout his 30-year career.) Check it out below: Granted, unless you live near one of White's many locations in Canada, you may not have such a vast inventory to pull your equipment from, but there is still a lot of great information for those who don't. Cohen, who I'm sure is everyone's favorite guy to have on set, reminds us about the different aspects of choosing lights. Ask yourself, "What's the look supposed to be for the scene? What color of light do I need? How much light do I need -- how much area do I need to cover? What's the output of this light -- can I plug it into typical outlets, or do I need a generator? How will I shape/diffuse this light? How am I going to hang this light?
All of this starts, of course, with communicating with the director about what they want the look to be for each scene. Then you can look at the budget and figure out how you're going to make it happen with the funds that are available to you, and begin to make the creative and technical choices that will give the director what they're looking for.
Source: Indiewire
